So Long, Toys “R” Us and Thanks for All the Baseball Cards

For millions of people, trips to Toys “R” Us were a seminal part of growing up. Wandering the aisles, the rows and rows of soaring shelves looking even higher from the low kid vantage point. The Empire State Building might as well have been made out of LEGO boxes, Transformers and Barbie dolls.

Sure, it was expensive, but that was for the adults to worry about. As kids, we had no concept of money. We either had enough or we didn’t. And even if we had enough, it didn’t mean our parents would let us spend it.

Full disclosure, I didn’t have a Toys “R” Us close by until I was a teenager and had moved on from He-Man and G.I. Joe. That didn’t mean I didn’t view the chain through a magical lens of awe. In Canada, I still saw the commercials on the American channels beamed north from Washington State. I saw the ads in my comic books. I hummed the jingle walking to school. I wanted Geoffrey the Giraffe to come to my birthday party.

And now, it’s coming to a close, at least in the United States. Toys “R” Us is set to suffer the same fate as a cancelled toy line. Whether it comes back in some new form or we compromise for some kid nostalgia watching old commercials on YouTube remains to be seen. For now at least, there’s the option of taking a trip to Canada where stores are still open. But it’s safe to say the days of burning rubber with a Big Wheel up and down the aisles are over.

It also means one less place to go to hunt for sports cards. The selection might not be as strong as other retail spots like Walmart and Target, but there are still cards to be found. That includes the flagship Topps Baseball Purple parallels that have become popular in their own right, in part due to their rarity on the secondary market.

It wasn’t always this way. Back in the heyday of the franchise, sports cards were at their peak as well as far as number of collectors. Put the two together and you’ve got a string of exclusive sets that are largely relegated to oddball status today.

Between 1987 and 1991, Topps and Toys “R” Us teamed up for annual mini sets highlighting the years’ rookies. Each has a 33-card checklist and came packaged like a deck of cards.

In many instances, the rookies on the cards didn’t match up with their Rookie Card years. For commons and minor stars, it doesn’t mean a lot. But there’s a big difference between a 1989 Ken Griffey Jr. card and one from 1990.

Today, these sets aren’t particularly scarce. And while some key players like Griffey, and Barry Bonds and Bo Jackson in 1987, can garner some attention, it’s relative. You’re not going to get rich off of Topps Toys “R” Us Rookies sets.

On the strictly collecting side, they look pretty good. The TRU logo alone makes for a bright color palette. The design for the glossy Toys “R” Us Rookies sets didn’t change up much from year to year. Topps stuck with the same layout but the border color changed.

After there was no set in 1992, the format was overhauled for 1993 Topps Toys “R” Us got an overhaul. For starters, the rookie-only approach was abandoned and young stars were added to the mix. The set size also tripled, going to 100 cards.

Topps went with Stadium Club branding on the cards and also included 12 Master Photos in each set.

The cherry for the 1993 Topps Stadium Club Toys “R” Us set is the packaging, particularly in light of the toy store’s fate. Rather than a basic box, it comes in one designed to mimic a Toys “R” Us store, complete with Geoffrey smiling down from the front.

A collector for much of his life, Ryan focuses primarily on building sets, Montreal Expos and interesting cards. He's also got one of the most comprehensive collections of John Jaha cards in existence (not that there are a lot of them). Got a question, story idea or want to get in touch? You can reach him by email and through Twitter @tradercracks.